First Date
by sd freek
Summary: Takes place during the movie. Ben takes Alicia out for a date and Victor von Doom decides to attack Ben in a different way. R&R. DONE!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the fantastic four

**Author's note:** This takes place during the movie before the F4 realise that Victor is Dr. Doom. It happens after Johnny gives the team names and Ben meets Alicia.

Victor von Doom looked at the large scar on the side of his face. _Why_, he thought to himself as he stroked the metal the scar revealed beneath his skin. He turned away and went into his office. Ever since the accident aboard his space ship strange things had been happening to him. His strength had increased and metal was beginning to show through his skin. He also seemed to have the amazing ability to suck electricity from power sources and control it. Victor sat down in his throne like chair and switched on his security system. He carefully watched the cameras that were placed on the top floor of the Baxter Building.

_Just call her,_ Ben thought to himself. He had been sitting on his bed staring at the phone for five minutes, trying to pluck up the courage to call a girl named Alicia Masters. _Pick up the phone Ben - it's not hard - you've called girls before. _Ben took a deep breath and picked up the phone. He was about to press the oversized buttons on his custom made telephone when he was interrupted by a rather annoying voice.

"Hey Ben, what ya doing," Johnny said cheerfully as he walked into The Thing's bedroom. Ben put down the phone and covered up the card Alicia had given him with one finger. Johnny sat down beside Ben.

"Who ya calling?" he asked.

"Haven't you got some fans to please or something?" Ben replied with a hint of impatience in his voice.

"I'm grounded remember - it was your idea" Johnny said bitterly. "As if crushing my car wasn't enough," he added.

"If ya got a problem go see Suzie, she's the one who won't let you out" Ben pointed out. At that moment Johnny noticed something white sticking out from Ben's finger, he smirked.

"What's that you're hiding," he said as he made a grab for the paper. Ben pulled it away and tried to pick it up but found his fingers were too big. Johnny laughed and picked it up with ease. He laughed even more when he saw what was written on it - 'Alicia, 07980143495.' "Is that a girl wide load?"

Ben growled and lunged for Johnny. The blond teenager ducked and ran to the other side of the room.

"You actually mean to tell me a girl gave YOU her phone number? Whoa she must be blind or something," he laughed.

"She is," Ben, said feeling even more annoyed as he walked towards Johnny. Johnny let out another laugh.

"You're kidding me right? Oh this is rich! Here's your number," he said as he tossed the card over his shoulder and walked out the room laughing. Ben took a few deep breaths before sitting back down on his bed. He picked up his phone and looked over at the card before pressing the right buttons. The phone rang three times before Alicia picked up.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hi Alicia. It's me Ben."

"Oh Ben, how have you been? Not still sad I hope," she said cheerfully.

"I'm okay, um… I was wondering if you er … you …wanted to um … come out with me tonight," he said nervously.

"Oh Ben, I'd love to! What did you have in mind?"

"Well…er… maybe a meal. There's this great restaurant which does a mean pizza."

"Great, pick me up at seven," she said.

"Uh… okay," Ben said hardly believing what he was hearing.

"Okay, see you later Ben." She said before hanging up. Ben smiled as he put down the phone. _Well that was easy_, he thought.

Victor smiled at the conversation between Ben and the woman on the other end of the phone. He had been trying to think of ways to make Ben more vulnerable so he could attack Reed Richards. He had the others all sorted out - some were easier than others and if Ben was out the way all of them would be easy.

"Leonard, cancel my dinner with Miss Advark at 7. Tell her I have a previous engagement that slipped my mind and is unavoidable," he said to his personal assistant.

"Yes sir," the young man said obediently and he left the room to make the phone call. _I've got a meeting with a certain Mr. Grimm and his … girlfriend._ Victor thought, he leaned back in his chair and smiled evilly.


	2. Chapter 2

**AUTHORS NOTE**: Thank you TheTorch for being the only person to review my story. Please review it, this is my first fic and it makes a person cry when nobody reads their stories.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing but an eMac.

"I'm going out," Ben said as he pulled on his jacket.

"Where?" Reed asked as Ben rarely left the house.

"Pebbles has a date," Johnny said mockingly as he took a sip of his soda. Sue poked her head out from round her bedroom.

"Did I just hear that Ben has a date," she said with a big smile.

"He does with some girl called Alicia," Johnny said with a smirk. Sue came out from her room.

"Ben that's great," she said.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Reed asked, slightly hurt that his best friend failed to inform him.

"Slipped my mind," he said quietly.

"Unlikely!" Johnny said as he stood up to put his soda can in the bin. "I heard you singing and saw you looking in the mirror."

"Shut up Tinkerbelle," Ben said menacingly.

"Did you tell them the reason she gave you her phone number too?" the teenager asked his glaring friend.

"What's the secret?" Reed asked curiously.

"I guessing the only reason is cos she's blind and doesn't know you're a walkin' talkin' rock." Johnny said with his trademark smile. Reed and Sue looked at each other.

"I told ya to shut up or I'll do it for ya!" Ben said angrily.

"Dude, if she just like suddenly regained sight over dinner she'd fly to Pluto" he said, enjoying watching Ben get irritated.

"That can't happen," Sue told her brother in a warning tone. Johnny ignored her.

"Are you sure she just forgot her glasses or is she crazy? I mean, even the sound of your voice is scary and your weight must scare her too. What did she think when the ground shook every time you took a step?" Ben painfully remembered when he walked into the bar and his steps made the record skip. "That's it," Ben yelled.

"Ben no!" Sue said as she put a force field around her younger brother.

"Calm down Ben," Reed said soothingly to his best friend.

"Don't worry, I ain't gonna touch him," Ben said with a smirk.

"Thank god for that," Sue said. Ben walked over towards the TV. Johnny watched curiously and began to panic when he realised what was happening. "Sis lemme outta here!" he yelled from within the force field. Susan ignored her brother and watched Ben pick up Johnny's beloved PS2.

"Shall I?" he asked Sue and Reed. The three laughed mischievously.

"Aww come on guys you know I was joking," Johnny pleaded. Ben looked at his watch.

"Your lucky I have places to be," he said as he threw the games console on the sofa and walked towards the elevator.

"Enjoy yourself Ben," Sue said.

"Try not to catch the eye of the paparazzi," Reed said.

"Kinda impossible for someone big and orange," Johnny muttered. "You gonna let me out anytime soon sis?" he added to his sister. Sue got rid of the force field without even looking at it; Johnny who had been leaning on it fell down and picked himself up,

"Not funny," he yelled to a chuckling Ben.

"See you guys later," Ben said happily before going in the lift.

"Take the rest of the evening off Leonard," Victor said as he put on the silver mask he received as a present from his country on.

"Are you sure Sir?" Leonard asked his boss uncertainly.

"Yes, maybe you could spend an evening with your girlfriend, what was her name?"

"Miranda Sir."

"Lovely girl, go on then. Go home, maybe you shall see me on the television but looking a little different." Leonard bowed to his boss before scooting out the door just in case Victor changed his mind.

Victor was in a good mood; he had a good feeling about tonight. Ben Grimm was going down and nobody was going to stop him. Victor quickly checked the monitor to make sure the other three members of the Fantastic Four were at home. They were. Victor took off his gloves and looked at his metal hands for a moment, before putting on an old cloak, which once belonged to his grandfather. _And the show starts, _he thought, _now for scene 1, location: Mario's pizzeria_.

Ben glanced nervously at Alicia as she took a small bite out of her pizza. He was sure that she was hating him right now. He had been ten minutes late picking her up due to Johnny's foolishness and the paparazzi were following them like persistent flies. Alicia could tell Ben was nervous, it was radiating off him like heat from a flame.

"So you're a superhero, tell me what that's like." Alicia said to start an ordinary conversation.

"Well, we're not really superheroes. We're just four friends with special abilities." Ben said modestly.

"Yeah right," Alicia said with a grin.

"I heard what happened on the bridge - you guys saved a lot of people that day and were the talk of every radio station in New York, maybe even the world."

"Yeah but that only happened cos of me. I scared a man who was about to commit suicide."

"Is he still alive?" Alicia asked curiously.

"Yeah, I saw him on TV yesterday talking about his traumatic event."

"Well there you go. You stopped somebody from killing themselves and cleared up all the damage you caused"

"No we didn't, the City had to pay for everything."

"I mean the valuable stuff like life - nobody died that day because you guys made sure everyone was safe." Ben sighed; he knew Alicia wouldn't stop till he admitted he was a hero.

"Okay so I am a hero, but ya wouldn't wanna be me," he admitted.

"I know hundreds of kids in my area who would sell their souls to be you." "They don't know what it's like to not be able to turn the page of a newspaper or pick up a piece of paper. I can only use the phone in my room and crush nearly everything I touch."

"And the plus side?"

"There aren't many."

"So, I want to hear them, no matter how small they are." Alicia said comfortingly. Ben tried to find any bonuses, only a few came to mind.

"Okay I find it really easy to make freshly squeezed orange juice …er… if I lose the TV remote I just pick up the sofa instead of bending down to look and … I know you." Ben said the last bit softly and watched as Alicia smiled and put her hand on top of his. At first Ben wondered how she found his hand so easily, and then he remembered his hands weren't very hard to miss.

The lights of the restaurant suddenly began to flicker - Ben looked around. Alicia sensed his panic.

"Ben what's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"The … the lights are fli-," suddenly Ben was sent flying through the wall of the restaurant and on to the street. Before he passed out he thought he heard a scream, Alicia's scream.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own marvel so I don't own the fantastic four

Ben opened his eyes and looked around. There were a crowd of people all around him. He sat up and saw the huge hole his body had created in the side of Mario's Pizzeria. He thanked God he had been sitting near the wall and crushed nobody in the restaurant; he wondered if anyone was hurt in the street. Then his mind turned to something more important, _Alicia_. Ben stood up and charged into the restaurant, Alicia was gone. Ben frantically scanned the faces staring at him.

"Where's the girl I was with," he asked a man sitting near him.

"S…she went that way," he said and pointed left. Ben nodded and ran in the direction.

"Alicia!" he yelled as he ran "Alicia where are you?"

"Ben, Ben over-," the rest was muffled. Ben looked up at the top of a flat roofed bar. Standing there was Alicia; a man whose skin seemed to reflect the moonlight covered her mouth. He wore a faded black cloak with the hood covering his face.

"Mr Grimm, how nice to see you again." The voice of the mysterious person was familiar but The Thing couldn't put a face to it. Whoever the person was, they had no right to do what they were doing.

"She's pretty isn't she," the person said in reference to Alicia. "It would be a shame to see her die wouldn't it."

That was when Ben lost it; The Thing jumped on top of the small one storey building and began to charge towards the figure and Alicia. As he got closer he realised the person had metal skin - the hands were well polished and so was the face which he could now see. "Doing some combat are we?" the metal man said menacingly. He threw Alicia to the ground. "Then taste this."

What happened next astounded Ben. Electricity flew out of the Metal Man's fingers and sent Ben flying backwards He landed just inches away from the edge of the roof. Ben got up and dodged the next bolt of electricity that was thrown at him; the second missed him by a millimetre.

"Oh, somebody's getting good at this Metal Man" as Ben decided to name him as he missed for the third time. Ben laughed. "And I see your getting worse," he said to his enemy. Ben punched as hard as he could. The Metal Man flew a couple of feet; he bounced back up and shot some more electricity at The Thing. It hit Ben squarely in the shoulder but it didn't seem to be very effective. Ben started to take large strides and quickly covered the ground between Metal Man and himself. He grabbed his enemy by the neck and began to punch him.

"Who the hell are you?" he growled.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Metal man said with what Ben swore was a smile. "Just thought you might wanna have a name other than Metal Man which I can call ya when you're dead." Metal man laughed. Ben glared and gave him another punch.

By now the fight on the roof had attracted the attention of many including a passing news van. Ben tried to ignore all the flashing lights but they were starting to distract him. He blinked and shook his head when someone shone a strong beam of light in his eyes. Metal Man used this to wriggle out of Ben's grip and sent him backwards with some electricity.


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N:** THANK YOU REVIWERS! You make this story worth continuing. So I had to wait but every time I read a review I celebrate. THANKS!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything

"Okay, that's it turn off that stupid game and let us watch TV." Sue said sternly to her younger brother.

"Just give me five more minutes to complete this and then I'll find a save point." Johnny said not taking his eyes off the screen.

"I thought you didn't need to find one on that game, it is Need for Speed 2 isn't it?" Reed said curiously.

"You do now," he replied.

"Look, the game may be yours but the television is not and if Reed wants to watch his TV he will." Sue said forcefully.

"Yeah, the only problem with that is that Reed doesn't wanna watch TV. He's just agreeing with you because you're making him."

"Reed is a grown man and can make his decisions," Sue said stiffly. Johnny saw that he was getting somewhere.

"I suppose that's why you made every decision to do with your relationship," he said with a smirk.

"That was two years ago," Susan said to her brother in a know it all tone.

"And my how times change," he replied sarcastically. Reed couldn't be bothered to listen to the brother and sister bicker so he got up and went to watch TV in his Laboratory. Reed was sure that such constant quarrelling stopped once siblings became a certain age or at least things got better._ It must have been hell ten years ago,_ he thought to himself.

Reed sat down in his large chair and turned on his small television. He rarely watched it in his lab because it always caused a great distraction. Mr Fantastic flipped through the channels, _something must be on, it is a Saturday,_ he thought. He stopped flicking when he reached CNN; he stared at the television and the images being played in front of him.

"Johnny, Sue come and see this," he yelled. The arguing stopped and the Storms ran into the room,

"Whoa," Johnny said when he saw the screen. A reporter was live in front of a bar not too far from the Baxter Building. Behind her on the roof of the bar were three figures, two of them were hard to identify but one was not.

"What's going on, why is Ben up there?" Sue asked frantically. She was sure Ben was out on a date, not picking fights with random people. The three superhero gave a gasp as Ben was thrown to the other side of the roof by a bolt of electricity.

"Wow," Johnny said in amazement.

"We have to get down there." Reed said as he went to get the suits. He came back shortly wearing his suit and carrying Sue's. Johnny began to take off his clothes to reveal his own outfit, while Sue went to get changed in her bedroom. "Doesn't this make you gratefully for my additions," Johnny said to Reed in reference to the fours he had sewn on. Reed rolled his eyes and walked out the lab and towards the elevator.

"I know you like 'em Reed. I saw you checking yourself out in mirror and stroking the four." The Human Torch said persistently as he followed Reed. Reed looked at the floor embarrassed.

"I find them really comfortable," he admitted. Sue came out her room.

"Let's go," she said.

"So Mr Grimm, getting tired yet." Victor said as he sent Ben flying yet again with some electricity.

"I don't think I could ever tire of this," he said chuckling. Meanwhile Alicia tried desperately to find her stick. _If I could just…aha_, her hands closed on a long smooth wooden stick. She grinned and stood herself up. She had no idea what was going on but whatever it was wasn't good. She started walking forward carefully. She felt the ground in front of her suddenly disappear beneath her stick. _Where the heck am I,_ Alicia started walking backwards and bumped into someone or something. Whatever it was grabbed her by the throat, its hands were cold and smooth,_ metal_, she thought.

Ben groaned and got up, the last bolt of electricity had really hurt. He looked over to where Metal Man was standing. _No_, in one hand he held Alicia. She desperately tried to pull away from his steel grip while Ben started to run forward.

"Do you really want to do that Mr Grimm?" Victor asked The Thing. Victor walked slowly towards the edge of the building and dangled the blind girl over the edge.

"Come any closer and I'll drop her. All you have to do is surrender and she'll live."

Ben growled. He had no intention of giving up to a man made of metal but he had Alicia and she would die if he didn't do something. The Thing thought out his chances. Metal man could drop Alicia a lot faster that Ben could reach him. Ben took a deep breath and sank down to his knees.

"I surrender he said just loud enough for Victor to hear. Victor von Doom smiled beneath his mask, _so predictable._ Victor gathered some energy from a nearby lamp post, careful not to scorch the girl before shooting it all at Ben. He laughed to himself as he transferred all the energy into Ben; The Thing rose into the air and flew down onto the street among the television reporters. They went wild and started to thrust microphones in his face.

"Ben," Victor shouted. The reporters cleared a path so Ben could see what was going on.

"I lied," Victor said evilly and let go of Alicia.

"NOOOOO!" Ben yelled.


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N: **This is my last chapter. Thank you everyone for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

Then out of nowhere Johnny zoomed beneath Alicia. "Heya Ben, miss me?" the teenager said cockily to his companion as he caught her.

"Not really," Ben muttered but was glad he made it. Soon Reed appeared taking large steps and carrying Sue. Ben raised an eyebrow at this. He had a suspicion that there was still a spark between the two but neither of them would admit it. Johnny landed next to Ben and put Alicia down.

"Who is this guy?" he asked.

"Dunno, I call him Metal Man," Ben replied as he checked Alicia was okay. "Metal Man? If I didn't come up with The Thing I think you would've," Johnny said as he tried to stifle a laugh. Ben shot a glare at Johnny and was about to open his mouth, when a bolt of electricity flew between them sending both of them back a little. Ben and Johnny looked over at Victor and saw Reed desperately trying to dodge every bolt thrown at him and hold Sue at the same time. Johnny flew into the air and began to throw fireballs at Metal Man; this distracted Victor and gave Reed enough time for him to put Sue down. Ben, Reed and Sue each used a different way of getting up onto the roof. Reed stretched his legs onto the roof and took Sue with him. Susan put Ben in a force field and floated him up. Ben charged towards Metal Man, who was shooting at Johnny. Ben caught him by surprise with a right hook. Victor stumbled back and watched as the Fantastic Four circled him, Ben in front of him, Johnny behind, Sue on his left and Reed on his right.

"Isn't this nice, we're all here together," he said nervously. As the Fantastic Four drew closer he got an idea, electricity began to spark around him. Reed took a step back warily; he knew something was about to happen. Then without warning Victor blasted electricity from him on all four sides, Ben stumbled back a little whilst Sue protected herself with a force field. Johnny and Reed both went flying in different directions. Reed landed on the roof but Johnny fell off the edge.

"Johnny!" Sue yelled. The Invisible Woman ran to the edge of the roof and searched frantically for her brother. He wasn't on the dock behind the bar and the water was smooth with no sign of disturbance.

"Johnny!" she shouted again as she scanned the water more carefully.

"Sue look out!" Reed said as he saw electricity start to gather in Victor's hands. He stretched an arm to pull her out the way; he pulled her towards him and saw tears were streamed down her face.

"He's gone," she sobbed "he's gone." Sue trembled as she turned around to face Victor.

"You killed my brother," she said quietly. "You killed him," she repeated.

"And," Victor said dismissively. _That's it,_ she thought and sent a large wave of force sending Metal Man over the edge of the building.

Ben walked to the edge of the building and looked over.

"Metal Man's gone," Ben said as Sue and Reed joined him. Susan began to cry again.

"Why?" she asked, "why him? Why now?" Reed put an arm around Sue comfortingly. Ben tried to act like it was ordinary but he couldn't help staring. Reed sensed he was being watched and looked up at his best friend. They exchanged smiles before gazing out sadly at the sea, Ben looked down on the dock and his eyes rested on a skip full of garbage. He swore it was moving. "Hey guys, look at that," he said to the others. Reed glanced at it.

"Probably just a cat," he said dismissively. Ben nodded but watched it; from underneath the bags a hand appeared.

"Guys look," Reed sighed and looked down and his eyes opened wide, he nudged Sue. She gasped and watched it hopefully. An arm followed the hand, it pushed a bag of trash aside and Johnny's head appeared.

"Johnny," Sue cried. The teenager looked up and smiled.

"I'm okay," he said as he gave a thumb ups sign to his friends.

"Oh Johnny," Sue said and she would've stepped off the edge if Reed hadn't been holding her.

"Gave us quite a scare then Tinkerbelle," Ben said to Johnny as he wriggled his way out of the skip.

"Flame on!" he yelled before flying up onto the roof and turning back to normal.

"Johnny, we thought you were dead," Sue said as she flung her arms around her younger brother.

"Me, dead? Highly unlikely. A man made of metal can't stop The Human Torch," he said as he hugged her back.

"Well shall we face the crowd?" Reed asked his team mates.

"Bring it on," Ben said and the four walked to the edge of the bar to face the rapturous applause of the crowds watching.

Victor pushed himself onto the dock. His cloak was dripping and his mask was full of water. He looked around to make sure nobody was watching him. He took off the mask and cloak. He limped over to a clothes bank and pulled out a trench coat. He quickly put it on before hurrying away. _One day Mr Grimm. _He thought to himself. _One day_.


End file.
